President Donald Trump honored a former girls’ high school volleyball player who suffered severe injuries after a trans player spiked the ball on her face during Tuesday night’s address before Congress.
Payton McNabb said she suffered a concussion, brain bleed, and permanent whiplash during her junior year at Hiwassee Dam High School in Murphy, North Carolina, after the trans player spiked the ball with all his might directly in her face at close range.
Trump, who also invited McNabb to Washington when he signed the No Men in Women’s Sports executive order, told viewers and those in attendance about McNabb’s struggles and strength in fighting back from the incident.
“Three years ago, Payton McNabb was an all-star high school athlete, one of the best, preparing for a future in college sports,” Trump said. “When her girls’ volleyball match was invaded by a male, he smashed the ball so hard in Payton’s face, causing traumatic brain injury, partially paralyzing her right side and ending her athletic career. It was a shot like she’s never seen before.”
After pointing out McNabb in the House gallery, he continued, “From now on, schools will kick the men off the girls’ team, or they will lose all federal funding.
“If you really want to see numbers, just take a look at what happened in the women’s boxing, weightlifting, track and field, swimming or cycling where a male recently finished a long-distance race five hours and 14 minutes ahead of a woman.”
The president characterized the presence of male athletes in women’s sports as “very demeaning” and “bad for our country.”
McNabb was thrilled to receive an offer to attend the president’s speech.
“It’s just such an incredible honor, and I’m so thankful, and I can’t believe I’m getting invited. I know that President Trump really supports what we’ve been fighting for and what I’ve been advocating for for over two years now,” she said. “And he’s really big on getting men out of women’s sports and out of their spaces.
She continued: “So, I think this is just his way of letting us know that he sees us and he’s with us, and I’m just so thankful for that.”
While Trump has written an executive order banning males from competing in women’s sports, efforts to codify that into law hit a roadblock Monday night after Senate Democrats voted along party lines to prevent the bill sponsored by Senator Tommy Tuberville (R, AL) from receiving the necessary votes to overcome the filibuster.
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